Trey Hendrickson decided to take his displeasure with the Cincinnati Bengals public.
On Monday, the Bengals defensive end made a statement to ESPN about the contract standoff between himself and the team. He said there has been no communication since the draft in late April, when he got offers that he didn’t think reflected his value. Hendrickson is set to make a $15.8 million base salary this season, which is the final year of his contract.
Here’s Hendrickson’s statement to ESPN:
“No communication has taken place between my camp and the organization post draft. The offers prior to the draft did not reflect the vision we shared and were promised last offseason if I continued to play at a high level. Coaches are aware of these past conversations. Rather than using collaboration to get us to a point to bring me home to the team, THEY are no longer communicating. I have been eagerly awaiting a resolution of this situation, but that’s hard to do when there is no discussion and an evident lack of interest in reaching mutual goals.”
There are more than two months until training camp starts, so there is plenty of time for the Bengals and Hendrickson to start dialogue again and come to an agreement. But going public now puts some pressure on Cincinnati, and indicates Hendrickson isn’t happy with the way the situation is being handled.
The Bengals extended wide receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins this offseason with massive contracts, which made it harder to also give Hendrickson a big raise. The Bengals had defensive issues last season, and they probably wouldn’t get better without Hendrickson, who recorded 17.5 sacks in each of the past two seasons.
There’s still time for a contract to get worked out. But Hendrickson making his frustration public indicates there is a long way to go.
